Together
by willowbranch15
Summary: Sleeping in the same bed never felt weird to them, that was they way they had always done it.


The good night's where when they could get into a children's shelter. Even then, the shelters were so packed that Piper would find herself wedged between Aerrow's snoring and Finn's stinky feet on a twin sized mattress.

When they finally found themselves a terra to call their own, the thought of each having their own rooms inside the fort thrilled them.

"I'm going to write a sign." Finn said, spreading his arms for emphasis. "No. Pipers. Allowed."

Piper glared at him. At ten years old, girls weren't exactly Finn's favourite thing. In fact he'd rather have to kiss a bog howler than spend another night in the same bed as Piper.

"Well then you'll never be allow in my room either." Piper declared. "And my room will have all sorts of cool crystals that you'll never see."

"Pfft... like I want to see your stupid crystals anyways."

"Guys, stop." Aerrow stood between them. "We have our own rooms now. We have to respect each others privacy."

"I'll respect it if he respects it." Piper spat. Finn stuck his tongue out, and Aerrow had to hide a small laugh behind his hand. Piper shot murderous glares at the both of them. Of course Aerrow would take Finn's side.

She huffed. "You boys are so immature. Don't come crying to me next time you need something."

With that, Piper spun on her heel and stomped into the fort.

* * *

Night crawled around, and Piper had yet to leave her room.

At dinner, Aerrow had taken a plate of their meager rations and left it outside her door.

"Dude, why'd you do that? You know that if you leave her long enough she'll have to crawl out eventually to come get food before she starves." Finn said, taking a bite out of a sand cake.

Aerrow shrugged. "She seemed pretty upset." He sat down beside Finn and started eating his share of their rations. They would have to get more soon, but since they had a more permanent home now, they could stock up with enough to last awhile.

"Piper's always upset, it'll all blow off in a few days and she'll be back to normal." Sand cake crumbs flew out of Finn's mouth. Aerrow grimaced when one landed near his plate. Finn and Piper were always in petty fights, and it was always up to Aerrow to come between them and get them to make up.

"Maybe you shouldn't have said she wasn't allowed in your room, you know she wouldn't come in without asking in the first place." Aerrow reasoned.

"She overreacted!" Finn cried in his defence. "If she didn't take everything so stinkin' seriously, we wouldn't be in this fight."

The floor creaked, and both boys jumped, their heads turning to the noise. There stood Piper, her dirty dishes in her hands. She took one look at Finn before walking to the sink and putting her dishes in, washing each on painfully slow. The kitchen was eerily silent, Aerrow and Finn watching her wordlessly. When she finished the last dish, she wiped down the counter before turning to Aerrow.

"Tell Finn that I came out to apologize, but since he still thinks I'm 'overreacting' he can drop on his head." Piper said, bumping into Finn's side of the table as she stomped out of the room.

Aerrow and Finn sat in silence until Piper was well out of hearing distance.

"Well you heard what she said." Aerrow said with a small chuckle. Finn just stared at his plate, not laughing at Piper's immaturity.

"I'm full." Finn pushed his plate away and left the table. Aerrow sat at the table, not used to either of his friends being this upset over a fight.

* * *

Finn's room was too quiet. He was still getting over the fact that it was all his, that he won't wake up tomorrow and have to worry about where he would be sleeping the next night. His one extra set of clothes hung lonely in the closet, and the few other possessions he owned sat on the shelf. A tissue box guitar that Aerrow had made him for his seventh birthday, a picture frame with the one photo he had of his parents, the only book he had, given by Piper of course.

He leaned back on his bed and sighed. He should just go and apologize to her, it was kinda his fault anyways. But if he did that, then every time they fought she would expect him to be the one to apologize.

It would blow over, Finn hoped, and if not, Aerrow would come between them and make them both talk until they made up.

Finn twisted his neck to look around his room. _His room. _The words felt foreign in his mind. No more Aerrow snoring, no more of Piper's constant moving in her sleep.

He missed it already.

The wind was howling outside, the walls of their fort let in the slightest draft, making Finn shiver. Aerrow's room was just down the hall, and Piper's room was across the fort. After years of living in each others laps, Finn felt as if his friends were a thousand leagues away.

He tugged the blanket up to his chin and turned onto his side. The bed felt cold without shared body heat. Finn curled up his knees trying to warm, it had been years since he had to sleep alone. He forgot how lonely it was.

Maybe Aerrow would let Finn slide into bed with him. They were still young enough that it wouldn't be weird, and even if they were too old, they had been friends for most of their life, it wouldn't feel awkward to them.

Or maybe he could reconcile with Piper. In the years Finn had known her, when they weren't having petty arguments, she became like an older, caring sister to him. Making sure Finn and Aerrow were always warm and dry before settling down for the night, no matter where they were.

Aerrow seemed like the better choice. Finn pulled his blanket around him, the bottom half trailing after him like a cape.

The fort was silent. On the other terra's they had stayed on, there was always sounds at night, skimmer engines, stores that stayed open late, or just people who didn't know the meaning of others were sleeping. Terra Neverlandis was very small, and there were only three people on it. It was dead silent.

As Finn crossed the hall to knock on Aerrow's door, he could hear the other boy snoring faintly through the door. Aerrow was asleep, and Finn didn't want to disturb his rest.

Looking back across the hall to his room, Finn's heart sank. He really didn't want to have to spend the night alone.

He wondered if Piper had gone to bed yet. If he could go to her and beg her to let them sleep in the same room.

Finn wandered to the other side of the fort. The sliver of light from under Piper's door illuminated the hall.

He knocked twice, then waited. Piper's quiet footsteps padded to the door.

"Really Aerrow, you don't need to be the one to apologize for Finn, he's a big bo-"

The door was pulled open, and Piper stopped mid word.

"What?" She asked, Finn standing there with his blanket around his shoulders.

"Uh-" Finn looked at his feet. "I couldn't sleep, my room's too quiet. I thought Aerrow might let me climb into bed with him but he's already asleep, so I thought, uh, you'd let me..." The rest of the sentence trailed off. He looked up to Piper's face, trying to read her.

Piper rolled her eyes. Of course, now he needed her. But Finn's eyes pleaded to be allowed to stay.

"Fine." Piper huffed, opening the door for Finn. He slid into the room, waiting for Piper to close the door before following her to her bed. Piper crawled to the edge of the bed and motioned for Finn to lie beside her.

Finn lay down stiffly beside her, still unsure how mad Piper was about their earlier spat. She pulled the blanket up, making sure it covered them evenly before adding Finn's blanket on top.

"Don't hog the blankets in the night or I'll kick you out." She warned, rolling over so she faced away from Finn.

The fort didn't seem so quiet now, with Piper breathing beside him.

"Thank you." Finn whispered. His voice was so soft he was unsure if Piper heard him, but Piper rolled over to face him.

"It's no problem."

Finn turned towards her. "I've never liked being alone, and since I met you and Aerrow, I've never had to." It was cheesy, Finn thought, but it was true.

"You're not alone, Finn. Aerrow and I are here, we're not just going to leave you alone."

Finn scooted closer to Piper, slowly hugging her. "I'm sorry about earlier."

Piper hugged him back. "Me too."

There was a knock on Piper's door, and without waiting for an Aerrow it opened. "Piper, I was hoping-" Aerrow stopped. "Oh, he's here."

Piper laughed and pulled out the hug. "Come on, you might as well climb in the bed too, Finn's already made himself at home." Finn made an annoyed hmpf sound.

Aerrow crawled in beside Finn. "Looks like you two made up." He said, his eyes drooping.

"Yeah." Finn yawn. "We did."

* * *

"Stork, have you seen Piper?" Junko asked the helmsman. "I need her help looking over the crystal compartment on her skimmer before going to bed, and she's not in her room."

"Maybe the mind worms got to her." Stork said. "You guys never listen to me, but I'm telling you, they're dangerous."

"Uhuh. Maybe I'll just check with Aerrow." Junko turned and walked out of the bridge, ignoring Storks paranoid ramblings about the dangerous creatures of Atmos who had possibly kidnapped Piper.

It had been nearly a year since the Storm Hawks had been reformed. Living on the Condor had become routine, with everyone pitching in to make sure they didn't plunge out of the sky.

"Hey Aerrow?" Junko knocked on the bedroom door. When there was no answer he opened the door.

Aerrow, Finn, and Piper were all curled up together, fast asleep. Radarr was spread out over top of them, snoring loudly. Junko smiled at the fact that the smallest felt the need to take up the most room.

"I'll help you in the morning, Piper." Junko whispered, shutting the door softly.


End file.
